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Nick

Pro-tip: Licenses and certifications

Pro-tips exist for the sole purpose of helping you further your career. This advice is intentionally general, as I do not know who would be reading this, nor do I intend to limit this to a particular job or location. (I am located in the USA, so adjust this to your location as needed.) To be clear: if you cannot do your job task, your licenses, certifications, degrees prior experience and reputation will not matter. Most only open doors and options.


There are several certifications and licenses that I see in the background of many in our trade, along with several educational paths. To me, the licenses are usually the most valuable for those seeking mid-career benefits. Certifications might those help in early stages of their careers. Education provides flexibility throughout your career.


Licenses

The professional engineer's license is required in many utilities for stamping drawings. In the USA, it is handled by the NSPE, and your license is limited by state and discipline. Many states allow reciprocity, so you may be able to move with some degree of easy. I work with a number of electrical, mechanical and controls PEs in the field. While this is not really required at the entry level, it would certainly be a benefit to anyone considering consulting. I personally recommend taking the entry level exam (the Fundamentals of Engineering or Engineer in Training) as soon as you graduate.


Various electrician's licenses are also common. If you need to work on the physical hardware landing wires, you likely need to work under a licensed electrician. As with the PE, this makes a license a worthwhile investment. Unofficially, most company's do not see benefit in having multiple master's licenses, so there is little-to-no pay difference between the master and journeyman. However, having the master's license opens doors to you running your own shop. In the USA, these are regulated by the individual states, so you would need to look these up individually.


With both the master electrician's and professional engineer's license come personal liability... Hence their value to the company. Specific types of firms cannot exist, let alone bid on work, without a minimal number of engineers or electricians (typically one) involved.


Certificates

Cisco hosts a number of IT related certificates. Someone holding a Cisco Certified Network Associate is a good sign on a network-heavy project. They are unlikely to be using the web server to set up a switch and will be able to troubleshoot a number of issues on your WAN. While there may be CCNPs or CCIEs (higher certifications) in industrial control systems, I cannot imagine there are many who would stay, given the higher earning potential in commercial fields.


On a level similar to the Cisco CCNA CompTIA has the Network+ and Security+ certifications. Unlike Cisco, these are vendor neutral and give a more balanced view of what networks can be and how to defend them. If you cannot specify Cisco for your system, I would strongly recommend these over the CCNA. (Also, I would not take the A+ for this field, it's too far down the totem pole.)


The Project Management Institute has a number of certifications for those running (unsurprisingly) projects. The most common is the PMP, which covers best practices, including stakeholder communication, risk management, types of projects, etc. Variations exist for professionals in other stages of their careers. I have worked with someone with the CAPM, I have not seen the others.


The International Society of Automation has two certificates that may be worth taking. I have taken the ISA Certified Automation Professional, but I warn you that most of it is a review of which standard apply to what circumstances. This is great for someone doing design work, but unlikely to help when you are on a maintenance team. The ISA Certified Control System Technician may have been better suited to me, as it had a hands-on component.


Education

I have seen people with associate, bachelors and master's degrees in the field. I have yet to work with a PhD. Perhaps they exist in motion control, aerospace or power. Anyway, if you are looking to get into this field, just be warned.


I hope this helps!

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